


Of Life and Death

by MaggicSorceress



Series: Maggic's Undertale Human AU [26]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, M/M, Reaper enjoying some quiet, and i like them being friends, and nature, fluff?, ft. Life because I like her, i guess?, im not sure how to tag this, its just
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:20:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23556709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaggicSorceress/pseuds/MaggicSorceress
Summary: In which Reaper ponders what might have been.
Relationships: AfterDeath - Relationship, Geno/Reaper, Reaper & Life, Reaper/Geno
Series: Maggic's Undertale Human AU [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623928
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	Of Life and Death

He woke up in the warm rays of the sun, punctuated only occasionally by a quick yet pleasantly cool breeze. It brushed through the leaves in the tree looming above him, scattering sunlight in bursts of kaleidoscope colours beneath his eyelids. He didn’t want to open his eyes, didn’t want to so much as shift where he lay for fear that the tranquillity of it all would fade away the moment he was forced to return to the world around him. For now, he let the shuffling of the leaves and a far away birdsong lull him back into a state of semi-consciousness. For now, nothing in the world, no expectations or responsibilities, mattered.

A thought supplied to him that he should at least move his face out of the sun, if only to spare his pale skin from turning a brilliant red under its intensity, but the warmth felt far too nice on his skin after so long of not relishing in it. He shifted where he lay, only to relieve a slight knot that had formed along his spine, and felt the delicate blades of grass brush across his arms and dance along his wings. He knew the feathered appendages would be pleasantly warmed without having to reach for them, the darkness of the plumage sucking up the sun’s warmth like a sponge, and if the day was colder than it was, he would have easily wrapped himself up in them, the heat and weight of his wings not unlike that of a blanket straight out of the drier. The day was warm, though, so he followed up this thought with no action.

He wondered if _he_ would enjoy it here as much as he did.

“I thought you were asleep,” A soft voice drifted towards him, no louder than the rustling of the leaves above him. “But you’re never this expressive in sleep.”

He found himself smiling before he could spare the other’s word’s any thought, eyes still closed. “Have I really fallen asleep that often here?” He asked.

The giggle that greeted his question reminded him of a wind chime. “Only _all_ the time.” The voice teased. “If I didn’t know you so well, I’d wonder if you did this on purpose just to avoid talking to me.”

“Aw, come on, Tori.” He said. “You give me too much credit.”

Eventually, when their conversation faded back into silence, he forced his eyes to open. The light, as it filtered through the branches, wasn’t as bright as it could have been, and his groggy eyesight was thankful. He allowed his gaze to linger on the shades of green and brown above him, watching the colours grow lighter under the beams of sunlight and following the pattern of veins in a leaf nearer to him than the others. He let his eyes fall to the woman sitting next to him, her legs folded beneath her soft brown skirt, and flowers blooming in a colourful array around where she sat, her own ‘curse’ of sorts.

They had found the strange book that gave them their unique abilities together and, although hers turned out to be more like a gift than a curse, she was one of the first that he had gone to about his own odd occurrences.

He ~~lovingly~~ jokingly called her Life, because she always seemed to bring…well…life wherever she went. In some way, she always had, even before her curse. And where she was Life, he was Death. Where she was sweet tea, he was black coffee, where she was brilliance, he was darkness.

And yet, they had stayed the closest of friends.

“What’s bothering you, Reap?” She inquired, her brown hair shifting in the soft breeze as she focused her brilliantly green eyes onto him. Although she was scarcely older than him, her eyes held a wiseness beyond her years; floating specks of gold among the softness of green picking apart every aspect of himself, baring his soul for her to see. There was only one other person in the world who made him feel like that.

A boy with fluffy blond hair and deep blue eyes, who had the sweetest smile and the most adorable pout, who somehow knew how to make him laugh like no one else and made his heart swell in his chest with every soft look ~~and had yelled at him and told him to leave and never come back~~.

He willed his memories away for just a little longer and smiled up at her. “Nothing, just…” _can’t go home yet_. “Enjoying the peace and quiet.”

She leaned back on her hands and gave him a look that told him how much she didn’t believe him, but she let the question drop. “Okay.”

She always did whenever there was something he wasn’t quite ready to talk about, trusting him to come to her on his own time, and he always did. He stayed where he lay, watching her from the corner of his eyes as she nimbly wove a daisy chain from those that sprouted around her. He admired the softness of her face, the rosiness of her cheeks, and the strength in which she carried herself, even as she sat on the grass beside him. He took in the soft colours she often wore, and the grass stained bottoms of her bare feet.

In another life, another time, maybe he would have loved her as more than a friend. Maybe he could have seen himself in this very same garden with her, dancing to music that only they could hear, hands connected and never wanting to let go. Maybe he would have been the one to bring her flowers after a long day of work, only for them to inevitably wilt only days later like they always seemed to around him.

But long ago her heart was promised to another and, although that was no longer the case for her, his own was now held tightly in the clutches of someone else.

And, a bit bruised as it often became, tender hands would soon wrap their way around it and soothe the blemishes, making sweet promises and whispering gentle praise that fell upon the bruises like a soothing balm.

Reaper sat up and glanced around the garden for the first time since he had arrived hours ago. He eyed the willow tree that sat off in the corner by the koi pond, a few stray orchids peering their pale heads out from behind the curtain of green, and the walls of lavender and rose that lay on opposite sides of the pond. His gaze drifted over the bluebells and white petunias that lined a lone stone walkway that weaved from the back door of her house over to her vegetable garden.

“Did you want to take some flowers for him?” She asked, knowing with practiced ease who occupied his thoughts more often then not. Reaper chucked, but instead of rising to his feet like she expected him to, he lay back down onto the grass, wings spreading just enough that he was able to brush her leg with the half-unfurled end. He sighed, folding his arms behind his head and allowing that familiar peacefulness envelope him once again.

“Maybe later.” He told her.

Later, he’d pick flowers and wander back to Geno’s house. Later, he’d accept the other’s flurry of apologies and kisses and promises.

But for now, he let Geno have his space and enjoyed the calmness of nature and Life.

**Author's Note:**

> This entire...drabble i guess?...spawned from me hating this quarantine stuff and just missing nature in general. There's only so much nature to be found in your backyard.  
> And I mean, haven't we all wanted a garden like Life's? Lots of flowers and trees and maybe a pond or two?  
> I sure have.  
> Anyway, thanks for reading! I hope you liked it <3  
> Comments and kudos are always lovely to see! <3  
> -Maggic


End file.
